Europeans Invade the Aztec Empire
Francisco López de Gómara
Historia general de las Indias
Zaragoza, Spain: Agustín Millán, 1553
One of the most important sources on the Spanish conquest is Francisco López de Gómara’s Historia general de las Indias, the second section of which includes a detailed picture of indigenous culture and society in Mexico. Gómara worked with a wealth of sources, from previous accounts of the conquest to detailed studies of indigenous religion by missionaries in the field. Like most of his contemporaries, Gómara had difficulty grasping the breadth of indigenous learning. The various means of transmitting this knowledge were equally opaque to him.
Newberry Library: Vault Ayer 108 .G6 1553 vol. 2